Sunday, January 28, 2018

Weightlessness and Gravity in Space

Rhett Allain tackles the issue of gravity in space and weightlessness as he dissects the scene he saw from The 100.

This is a common problem that many of us who teach intro physics encounter. Students, and the general public, often have a severe misunderstanding of the concept of "weightlessness", and equate that to having zero gravity. Certainly the example of being in a free-falling elevator, or even the example of the zero-g simulation in airplanes (the "vomit comet") are clear examples where one can be weightless but still in an environment with g not being zero.

It is one of those topics where, as physics instructors, we are resigned to a life-sentence of educating people non-stop about this misconception.

Zz.

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